Boys Soccer: Donato's two goals give Radnor the lift it needs

By MATTHEW De GEORGE

Thursday, October 11, 2012

MIDDLETOWN -- Through a first half his team thoroughly dominated but nearly came away from without a goal, Radnor coach Joe Caruolo exhorted his players to find a leader. He asked time and again for someone to step up, literally and figuratively, with the momentum and drive to shift the balance in the Red Raiders' game with Penncrest Thursday.

Finally, much to Caruolo's delight, that person proved to be senior Peter Donato.

Donato notched goals on either side of halftime, then proved his versatility by slotting into the center of defense to help goalkeeper Wesley Dickson preserve the clean sheet in a 2-0 Central League win.

"My role is to just help wherever the team needs it," said Donato, who notched his fifth and sixth goals of the season, second on the team to Chris Martin. "I think if we need to score a goal, I can help. If the defense needs to be locked down, I'm there. Whatever helps get the game in our direction."

"That's where the senior leadership (comes in) and how the boys responded against the adverse situation in a very positive manner," Caruolo said of Donato. "A senior leader who's willing to step up and make sure his team finds a way to win."

The senior midfielder's performance took on added importance with striker and fellow captain Martin missing his second straight match due to a sprained MCL that at best will keep him shelved for another week. The void on offense -- Martin scored 13 of the Red Raiders' 25 goals entering play Thursday and assisted on five others -- is considerable, as was Donato's role in filling the gaps en route to winning ugly against Penncrest.

"It takes a hit as an offensive weapon, but it also takes a hit with the team confidence," Caruolo said of Martin's absence. "That's where we're at now, and that's why I was glad for the boys today, because they found a way to win. It wasn't pretty, but they found a way to win."

"Chris was vital to our team because he could just finish," added Tyler Helms, who helped keep Penncrest at bay with his play in the center of midfield. "He was a fast guy who could just do what he was good at. I think just figuring that out and having Pete up top to be a strong force and getting support for him to finish it, we're trying to form that for the playoffs and kind of get ready for that."

Radnor (8-3-3, 6-2-2 Central League) didn't win many style points Thursday, and Donato's opening goal was part and parcel of the effort that ultimately made the difference. In the 34th minute, Donato stepped to a free kick just outside the penalty area. His first attempt, admittedly a miss-hit, was beaten down by the Lions' wall, as was a follow-up shot. But he followed the play and sent a looping header from near the penalty spot on a perfect arc over the outstretched arm of Penncrest goalkeeper Peter Coote, the first breakthrough against the busy senior keeper.

The momentum Radnor carried into halftime survived the interval thanks to Donato's marker less than three minutes after the break. Donato outhustled a defender to get a touch on a back pass, then got his boot high enough to finesse a shot past an onrushing Coote. It wasn't a thing of beauty by any stretch of the imagination, but it got the job done.

"It just puts us a step behind. We worked a lot, and we had a mistake at the top of the box, and then we had to play catch up," Penncrest coach Paul Norris said. "In terms of deflation, it definitely makes it hard, but we still kept fighting. But you can only climb so much."

The rest was up to the Radnor defense, led by Helms, defenders Matt Lundstrom and Kevin Riley, and yes, occasionally Donato as well. Dickson made seven saves, most in a back-and-forth first half. He was troubled just twice after halftime, diving to his left to corral a shot from Christian Mayer and standing tall to Mike Swantek's stinging delivery late after Swantek wriggled away from a couple of defenders.

"It downed us a lot and took all the energy out," Swantek said of Donato's second score. "But we tried to keep it in. We did pretty well, but we couldn't get another one back."

The Lions (6-5-4, 2-5-3 Central) were able to get more offense going in the second half, finding some midfield chemistry through Brendon O'Boyle, Carlos Sierra and Auston Trusty.

Elsewhere in the Central League:

Lower Merion 2, Springfield 1

Nick Janelli scored for the Cougars and Dave Sousa made five saves, but Springfield couldn't recover from the loss of defender Kyle Chevalier to an injury in the first half.

Ridley 2, Marple Newtown 0

Patricio Medina and Andrew Kelly scored, and Patrick O'Neill made eight saves to give the Green Raiders their first Central League win of the season.

Josh Gotlib made six saves for the Tigers.

Strath Haven 1, Haverford 0

John Ferruzzi finished off a move started by Christian Belanger for the Panthers' only goal, and Dave Ruffini made seven saves for the shutout.

Andrew Lake made eight saves for Haverford.

Conestoga 4, Garnet Valley 1

All-Delco Mike Cross scored on a pass from Jason Cavanaugh, and Steve Simunov stopped 16 shots, but Andrew Gonzalez scored four times for the Pioneers.

Del Val League

Penn Wood 4, Chichester 0

All-Delco Elijah Ema scored twice, bringing his season tally to 31 and breaking the single-season school record set by All-Delco Menuh Wiah in 2008.

David Diahn and Nyakeh Kamara also scored for the Patriots (10-2, 7-0), who got three saves from Chimanuka Kuderha.

Ricky Blair made five stops for Chichester.

Interboro 5, Glen Mills 0

Mike Christaldi scored twice and Chase Rodriguez made two saves for Interboro.

Ahmir Chambers made seven stops for Glen Mills.

Ches-Mont League

W.C. Henderson 1, Sun Valley 0

Matt Skwirut recorded six saves, allowing only Rob Miller's goal late in the second half.

Nonleague

Academy Park 1, Christian Academy 0

Kevin Galloway scored on a late breakaway, and Sam Ball snuffed out a TCA breakaway late for one of his four saves.